Kenshin Himura and the Best Test
by semajy
Summary: AU. Harry potter crossover. Kenshin has been taught by Hiko ever since he was 6. Now, five years later, he will be tested in ways he never could have imagined. Rated T just in case. Please review
1. Chapter 1: The Pretest

This story takes place in an alternate timeline where Hiko found Kenshin in 1986 and has trained him until 1991. In order to reasonably have Hiko still use his sword, I've made him fast enough to dodge bullets.

_Thoughts_

'Not translated dialogue '

"Translated dialogue"

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or Harry Potter.

**Chapter 1 **

Himura Kenshin was by no means an ignorant 11 year old boy, whatever some people may say. Ever since he was taken in by Hiko Seijuro XIII a few years ago, he was instructed not only in Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, which is Hiko's sword style, but also in academics. However, though academics were a little bit lower in priority than kenjutsu, it would be much more important than kenjutsu in a test he would be taking. A test unlike anything he could ever have imagined.

"Idiot apprentice."

Kenshin sighed. Perhaps it would have been easier to just have renamed him that instead of Kenshin when his master had found him. "Yes, Master?" he asked looking up from cleaning his new katana into the face of the gigantic man who had just walked out of his cottage.

"Let us test how far you have come in your education since I started teaching you my considerable skills, nearly 5 years ago," Hiko Seijuro XIII said with a small smirk on his face, his huge white mantle blowing dramatically in the cool March wind.

"An… English test?" Kenshin questioned rather hopefully.

Hiko replied with a soft chuckle. "I didn't even think of that," he remarked. "Well, since you want to have one so much, we can do that. **After** a little spar," he added, crushing the bright look in Kenshin's eyes.The last time the two had "sparred," it ended with Kenshin going to bed bruised and battered and Hiko leaving without a mark on him. It was by some miracle that out of all the one-sided fights they'd had, not one of them had killed Kenshin.

Reluctantly, Kenshin got up from his comfortable seat (a log) near the fire, making sure to take as much time as he could. He made sure to check that his clothes were absoluely spotless. Completely by accident, he spilled a little of the oil he was using to clean his sword on himself.

"Master, may I go…"

"No," answered a very amused Hiko.

_It was worth a try, _Kenshin sighed as he drew his sword.

If an outsider had walked into the small clearing where the 13th master of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu lived, they would have been greeted with a very strange sight. Hiko Seijuro- nearly 7-feet-tall, long onyx-black hair, wearing an impressive and expensive mantle, as muscular as a human can be without sacrifycing any speed, and obsidian eyes with a condescending look concealing a look of parental pride- facing Himura Kenshin- little more than 4-feet-tall, short ruby-red hair, wearing plain blue training gi and pants, rather scrawny looking, and violet eyes with a humble yet determined gaze.

"I'm ready," Kenshin told Hiko resignedly.

Hiko drew his sword too. "You should always be ready, idiot apprentice," Hiko told Kenshin right before he charged him. No matter how often Kenshin fought his master, he was always taken by surprise by how fast the immense man moved. Before Kenshin could blink, Hiko was behind him, ready to swing his katana at Kenshin's exposed back. Kenshin spun around and got his own blade up just in time to parry Hiko's sword. The force behind the horizontal swing was enough to push Kenshin back a foot though he was using both his arms while Hiko was only using his left. Not faltering a bit, Hiko brought his sword around and swung downwards aiming for Kenshin's neck. Kenshin jumped to the side, bringing his blade vertically across his body just in time to block Hiko's blindingly fast counterstrike. Once again Kenshin was reminded of his master's amazing strength. Even when the seven-foot tall giant of a man was holding back nearly all his strength, a one-handed swing was enough to jar all of Kenshin's bones in both of his arms.

_He has the right to be every bit as arrogant as he is,_ thought Kenshin. But Kenshin would never tell that to his master_. Master is like a father to me, but he is a very annoying, arroga..._. Kenshin's thoughts were interrupted by a burning pain in his left side.

"You were daydreaming again, idiot apprentice," said Hiko as he lowered his foot. "You would have seen that kick coming had you been paying any attention whatsoever to our spar."

"More of a trouncing then a spar," Kenshin muttered under his breath while trying to sooth the pain in his side. _That was a pathetic perfermance, I didn't last half as long as I did in the other "spars" as Master calls them , _Kenshin secretly berated himself.

"You deserved it, idiot apprentice, especially since you threw away half my pottery collection the last year," Hiko replied with a curiously knowing look in his eyes.

_Does he never forget? _an exasperated Kenshin thought. "That wasn't me, Master. I swear they just disappeared," said Kenshin through gritted teath. "What are you doing making pottery anyway?" Kenshin asked in a low accusing voice.

"True genius shows itself in many forms. Besides, how else are we going to get money," replied Hiko in a defensive and equally low voice. 'Now, about that English test,' Hiko said, discreetly changing the subject.

'Y…yes, master?' asked Kenshin, momentarily stumbling over the transition from Japanese to English.

'I think the best test we will ever get will be arriving soon'

"Huh?" said a bemused Kenshin.

'Ah, there it is,' said Hiko, looking up at the sky. Kenshin looked up too but could not see anything.

_Wait, what is that?_ Kenshin mused as he spotted something in the sky he had overlooked: a dot that was getting larger by the second. Soon, he could see that it was in fact not a dot, but some kind of bird. A very strange bird. Kenshin had never seen one quite like this one before. It seemed to have a very flat face, and one leg was longer than the other.

"What…?"

Hiko lightly slapped kenshin on the back of his head. 'Use English idiot apprentice," he reprimanded to an abashed reply of 'Yes, Master.' 'It's the language you'll be using for the next year or so.'

'What, for the next year?' exclaimed Kenshin turning to stare at his teacher.

'Hopefully, if you behave. And it would help if you didn't wet your bed again like last week,' answered Hiko with a smirk on his face, effectively distracting Kenshin from asking exactly why he would be using English for the next year.

'Master!' shouted a Kenshin whose red face was only partly caused by anger. Kenshin turned away from his master only to be greeted by a flutter of feathers in his face. Jumping back in surprise and just a tiny bit of fright, Kenshin finally realized that the strange bird was actually an owl. A very noble owl. A very noble and impatient owl. Everything that Kenshin felt at that moment was summed up by the single word that came out of his mouth.

'ORO?'

Please review and tell me what you think. The next chapter will hopefully be longer.


	2. Chapter 2: The Letter

thanks to little oro for my first review _  
_

_Thoughts_

'Not translated dialogue '

"Translated dialogue"

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or Harry Potter.

**Chapter 2**

' "Oro?" ' Hiko repeated with a raised eyebrow. 'Is that even a word?'

Ignoring his master's comment, Kenshin recovered slightly from his undignified jump of fright. 'Why are you here, Mr. Owl?' he asked the owl politely.

Hiko started slapping his forehead repeatedly in his apprentice's apparent denseness. 'Do you not see the big yellowish letter tied to his leg?' He asked exasperatedly.

Looking closely, Kenshin saw that there was indeed a letter tied to the owl's outstretched leg which he somehow had missed. The owl hooted with an annoyance that was much too intelligent for Kenshin's mental image of an owl. _What's a letter doing on an owl's leg? _Kenshin asked himself while reaching down and untying the letter. He saw from the green ink that the letter was clearly meant for him:

Mr. K. Himura

The Cot in the Corner

Shack-in-the-Mountains

Outskirts of Kyoto

Japan

"Oro?" Kenshin asked softly. From the way his name was written, it was clearly from someone in the western countries, not an eastern resident using English. _But who would want to write to me. Who would even know that I'm alive after what happened 5 years ago?_

Flashback

A 6-year-old boy was riding in the backseat of a van that had just pulled out of a store's parking lot. Out of all of the orphans in the van, he was without doubt the youngest one there.

"Hey Shinta-chan!" called a young teenage girl from the front. "How do you like your first trip with us to the store so far?"

"Very much, Mai-dono," replied a very nervous Shinta, looking away from the trees bordering the empty road they were on speeding by.

"You don't have to be so nervous here, Shinta-chan," a smiling girl a little bit older than the one up front said to him. "You've known us for 2 years already."

"O-Okay Akina-san," Shinta replied, still as nervous as before.

Akina sighed. "Shinta, you're still too…"

Suddenly, the van screeched to a halt, causing all of the orphans to jerk forward, restrained only by their seat belts.

"What's going on!" one of the older boys asked. Getting up, he walked hunched over to the driver's seat. "Why did…" the words died on his lips when he looked up at the windshield.

Getting on the tips of his toes while standing on the seat, Shinta looked over the heads of suddenly terrified orphans. When he saw what was outside too, his eyes widened. A few feet in front of the van stood at least a dozen ragged men. What's worse was that each man had a small handgun pointed at the van. The guns were old models, but Shinta was sure that each and every one of them could kill a person just as well as the new ones could.

"Get out!" the man closest to them shouted. He was obviously the leader of the gang of modern bandits. "Get out of the van!"

Shinta saw the van driver, a middle-aged woman named Anda-dono, nod slowly with her hands up, opened the door, and get out of the car.

"Everyone!" yelled the brigand hysterically.

Anda-dono paused for a moment and then turned back at the van and told all the orphans to go out side and not panic.

Shinta was the last one out the side door so he was in the back and safest from the criminals.

"Now," the man said in an impatient voice. "We want everything that's worth anything."

Cautiously, Anda-dono said, "But sir, we are from an orphanage. We don't have anything that could…"

Finding this answer unsatisfactory, the man pulled the trigger. At hearing the unexpected bang, everyone jumped and many of the orphans, not including Shinta, screamed. By that time, everything seemed surreal to him. He could not believe what was happening. _People don't just come out of nowhere and shoot Miss Anda,_ he thought. He then realized that the man who shot Anda-dono was talking again.

"…the oldest?" Kenshin heard him say hurriedly.

One of the boys answered, "I am."

"Okay, if we don't get anything in the next 30 seconds than all of you die," the man who shot Anda-dono declared.

All the orphans looked around in the hope of finding something.

"W-Would you like some gr-groceries?" Mai-dono asked fearfully.

"No," he replied harshly. "We need something worth a lot of money."

"I'm sorry sir, but we just don't have anything valuable," the oldest boy said, flinching as all of the guns were raised at him.

"Wrong answer," the bandit said. And then, gunshots were everywhere. The people that Shinta had known ever since he became an orphan died all around him. He saw one of the guns raised at him. Shinta did not move. He was frozen with fright. He knew he would die, but he could not move. However, though Shinta didn't move, someone moved for him. Mai saw what was about to happen to small, innocent Shinta and had to do everything she could to stop it. She threw herself in front of Shinta just in time to take the bullets meant for him.

"Shinta, you have to live," Mai gasped. "D-Don't give up." And with those words and one final smile, Mai fell still. Shinta's eyes widened. Mai couldn't die. She was Mai. She was supposed to always be there, teasing him, smiling at him. She couldn't die.

"No!" someone cried out. And then, Akina was the one in front of him. "Shinta, run," Akina said softly. And just like Mai, Akina fell to the ground, never to get up again. He couldn't believe it. How had this happened? This was his first trip to the store. Bad things couldn't happen today. Today was an exciting day. When had it become like this? How had it changed so much?

Looking around, Shinta saw he was one of the only three left alive. BANG! He was one of the only two left alive. BANG! He was the only one left alive. Shinta closed his eyes.

"AAAHH!"

Shinta's eyes snapped open to the cry of pain. There, in the middle of the bandits was a newcomer. He was huge, easily twice as tall as Shinta. He was holding a sword. And then he was gone, only to reappear five feet away cutting through another bandit with his katana. This went on for 10 seconds at most. The bandits were helpless. They couldn't get a clear shot at the swordsman. Soon they were all dead.

"You were lucky, boy," the swordsman told Shinta. "I've avenged you're family's death for you." Shinta was still too numb from the shock to reply. Hiko sighed. "There is a small village over there," Hiko pointed toward the trees to Kenshin's left. "Just walk straight that way and tell them that I sent you there. They will give you shelter and food." Hiko turned and departed the way he pointed.

Shinta didn't move for what seemed like hours. And then, as if the sunset was some kind of signal, Shinta started to work. He worked long and hard. He needed to give each of the bodies a proper burial in the forest. The road floor was much too hard to penetrate. Bodies were just bodies; corpses were just corpses.

He had no crosses so he had to make some himself. Using his hands, Kenshin broke some fallen branches into small sticks, and found string in the van to tie them together. He worked through the night. It seemed that he had no other purpose than to bury the bodies. And then he came upon Mai's and Akina's bodies. He knew that they deserve something better than just a shabby homemade cross. He put extra effort into making their crosses and then tried to find flowers. He searched from dawn until noon and could find nothing better than a pair of dandelions. Having nothing else, he had to settle for that.

Once Shinta was done, he had no idea what else to do. He just stood there for an hour, looking at the graves. And then, when he was looking at the sunset, he heard a gasp behind him. Looking back, he saw the swordsman from before standing there with a bottle of sake.

"You made graves for both your family and the bandits?" he asked in admiration, walking up beside Kenshin.

"They were not my true family. The true family dies over 2 years ago. They were my family at the orphanage. And no matter if they are bandits or family, when there is no life in it, a corpse is just a corpse," Kenshin told him.

"And who are these?"

Kenshin looked at what he was pointing at. "They were Mai and Akina. They sacrificed themselves so I may live. I wanted to give them something special, but all I could do was give them better made crosses and a few dandelions."

Hiko poured his sake over the graves. "It is a shame to not know good sake. I am giving what I can."

"Thank…you," Shinta said in a surprised voice.

Hiko grunted acknowledgement of the thanks. After a moment of silence, Hiko said, "I'm Hiko Seijuro, one of the few remaining swordsman of this age; what's your name?"

"Shinta"

"Shinta?" Hiko repeated. "That's much too soft for sword arts. From now on, your name will be Kenshin."

"Ken…Shin."

End flashback

_I thought they listed everyone on that van as dead. It was in the newspaper Master brought home the next day- the only newspaper Master has ever brought home. _

"But… Master," Kenshin began, unconsciously switching to English, while still staring at the letter. "I thought the government listed me as dead."

"The Japanese government." Hiko replied. "There was another government that had… more accurate ways to gather information."

"But which government, Master?"

"Read for yourself, idiot apprentice," Hiko answered. "It's how I found out."

"Oro?" Kenshin said confused. When Hiko did not explain, he decided he would just have to read the letter. Kenshin turned the envelope over and found a purple wax seal with a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large 'H'. With a strange feeling - as if his next action would change his whole life- Kenshin broke the seal. Pulling out one of the three letters, he started to read.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

_of _WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

_(Orde of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, _

_Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

Dear Mr. Himura,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

_Deputy Headmistress_

Kenshin looked up at his master. "This is a cruel trick, Master," he said.

"Eh?" was the only reply.

"Though trying to get poor, neglected victim to think he will finally be rid of the arrogant, horrible slave driver and then ripping that hope away is rather cliché, is it not?" Kenshin said in a disappointed tone.

"Once again, my idiot apprentice shows how he earned his nickname," Hiko sighed, shaking his head. "This, Kenshin," Hiko said dramatically, "is no trick."

silence

"You really expect me to believe that?"

"Yes, I do."

"And you call me the idiot?" Kenshin remarked incredulously.

"Well I can't be expected to call myself an idiot," Hiko said irritably. "And as anyone would tell you, I am most definitely not an idiot," he added haughtily.

_So arrogant,_ Kenshin thought shaking his head.

"And anyway," Hiko said. "How do you explain the disappearing pottery?"

"You threw it away yourself, just to trick me," Kenshin realized almost instantly. "And since when has magic been real?" Kenshin asked, realizing that he had, for a moment, actually believed that magic existed.

"That's just the point," Hiko explained. "Don't you think that if I was going to trick you, I would have conceived a much better and more plausible plan with my intellect?"

"Reverse psychology won't work on me," Kenshin said. "Don't think I've forgotten last year when you got me drunk."

"Well, if you had just told me why you were spending more and more time in buying my sake, I wouldn't have been forced to take such drastic measures as to waste my sake on you," Hiko replied to an outraged shout of "I was underage!". "And while we're on that subject, exactly when will I be meeting this girl, Akane?" Hiko added.

"Master!" Kenshin shouted, now totally oblivious to the letter he was still holding. "We were just talking!"

"From the way you were talking (and after drinking only one bottle, you really need to learn how to handle your sake), I could guess that you would have wanted to do something other than talking to her," Hiko said smugly. "Something that starts with a 'K' and rhymes with 'pi…"

"Master!" Kenshin yelled again, now sounding thoroughly offended. "We are getting away from the subject!"

"Don't worry about it idiot apprentice," Hiko said sympathetically. "Though I have never been in your plight, I understand that you are not alone in being a boy who has experienced their first love rejecting him."

"I would never, ever think about being so forward with a girl I barely even knew!" Kenshin desperately tried to convince Hiko. "Whatever I said back then must have completely been the sake talking."

'Whatever, we're off the subject now, idiot apprentice."

_Didn't I just say that? _Kenshin tried to remember.

'And from now on, you will be using English only with no exceptions.'

'Oops,' Kenshin bashfully remarked, just realizing he had been using Japanese.

'Good,' Hiko said. 'Now, you will have to send back your reply; the owl is getting impatient and seeing as he's the only one we have, we better send the reply back with him.'

'You still think you can trick me?'

'No, because this is not a trick,' an annoyed Hiko said. 'If you need proof, send your reply back saying that you accept, and then come with me to get your supplies.'

'Supplies?' Kenshin asked. The concept of needing supplies had escaped Kenshin so far. 'Where are we going to get supplies?'

'Good, you're finally believing me,' Hiko smirked at Kenshin. 'And to answer your question, we will get them somewhere in London, where we will meet a guide because apparently, I cannot see where we will be going,' Hiko said the last part with a small scowl, as if the idea of him not being able to see irritated him.

'Did you go to this school,' Kenshin asked suspiciously, still skeptical on the idea that there was a school of magic.

'No. It seems I am something called a 'muggle' because I am unable to do magic tricks,' Hiko replied once again with a small scowl.

'Then how do you know all this?' Kenshin probed, looking for a weakness in his master's story.

'You never give up do you,' Hiko said. 'Well, I also received a letter, though it was quite a while ago. Right now, I'll keep the summary brief. In short, it said I had adopted a magical child and since all the magic schools in our vicinity require a child to begin being taught within a year of his or her birth, Albus Dumbledore would allow you to attend his school.'

'Alb…?' Kenshin began to ask.

'The headmaster of Hogwarts, pay more attention to your letters,' Hiko answered before the question was even completed.

'Oh, yeah,' Kenshin said, embarrassed by his own ignorance. 'Wait, you said this school was somewhere in London?' Kenshin questioned, something beginning to dawn upon him.

'Actually, I don't know exactly where it is, but we get there from London, yes.'

'Then exactly how are we supposed to get there?' Kenshin asked, bringing up a good point.

'Well, if we start now, we could probably sprint there in less than four months,' Hiko said smirking.

'Wha…?' Kenshin spluttered. _We're going there by foot?_

'Relax, idiot apprentice, I'm just joking,' Hiko said, laughing. Kenshin looked a mixture of relieved at not going on foot and outraged at being tricked again. 'No, we're taking something called a "Portkey" in July, plenty of time to start some special training, eh?'

'What do you mean by some "Special Trai…" OW!' Kenshin was interrupted by a pain in his shin. Looking down, it seemed that the Hogwarts owl had finally lost his patience and started pecking Kenshin's leg. 'Ok, Ok, I'll reply right now!' Kenshin yelled. 'Just please stop pecking me!'

Finding this a good answer, the owl stopped so Kenshin could write the reply. Sighing, Kenshin bent down to tie the note, which said that he did accept, onto the owl and said, 'Sorry Mr. Owl, it's just that this is such a big shock to me.' The owl gave Kenshin what looked like an understanding nod and then flew away into the sunset.

'Like I said, training begins tomorrow,' Hiko, who had been very amused while watching the scene, said. Turning away to go back inside the shack he added 'Get some sleep, it's getting late.'

Kenshin obediently replied, 'Yes, Master.' Following Hiko, Kenshin went inside. He was still full of questions, but for now, he was convinced of three things: that there was magic in the world, that there was a school that taught people about magic, and that he was going to go to that school.

In the next chapter, we skip ahead a few months and see what Kenshin was learning from Hiko in some "special training".

a little note about chan, san, and dono

Titles can't really be translated from japanese to english accurately so i just left them as they are without trying.

-chan is a term people use to affectionately address girls or small children,

-san is a term people use to politely address others; children are almost never addressed as -san, also, enemies also can be and should be addressed as -san

-dono is a more polite version of -san. i'm not completely sure if you can address a man as -dono even though i'm pretty sure you can


	3. Chapter 3: The Preparations

_Thoughts_

'Not translated dialogue '

"Translated dialogue"

**Chapter Three**

Three months later: June 20th: near noontime

'Now where is it?' muttered Hiko as he rummaged through piles of letters.

'Why do you have so many letters, Master?' Kenshin, who was standing right behind Hiko while trying to read one of the hundreds of letters his master was shuffling through, asked curiously. Nothing much had changed about the red-head's appearance over the months, other than that his hair had become slightly longer. Without warning, Hiko casually threw a crumpled up letter at his apprentice's face. Seeing the ball of paper as if it were moving through jelly, Kenshin kept his eyes on it and moved his head out of the way when the paper was mere millimeters away… right into the path of a second, much, much faster wad of paper. 'Oro?'

'We've been training for three months already and you still are too incompetent at hiding your ki, my idiot pupil,' Hiko sighed. 'And I haven't always been a hermit, you know. Do you think someone who looked as good as I did wouldn't get any letters from girls?' he added in an undertone to answer Kenshin's question.

'Master, are you saying I should be able to completely hide my ki from someone as experienced as you?' Kenshin asked.

'I'm saying that I should not be able to predict which direction you will be moving in so easily,' Hiko explained. 'You seemed to dodge the objects I threw at you much better when the objects were rocks,' Hiko mused. 'Maybe I should go back to doing that.'

'But…those hurt, especially since you throw them,' Kenshin said almost whiningly, thinking of the bruises he got before Hiko decided that rocks were to be saved for the time when Kenshin was faster.

'Yeah, that might not be a good idea,' Hiko relented. 'Ah, here it is,' Hiko said, finally finding what he was looking for.

'What is it?' asked Kenshin, who was looking over Hiko's shoulder.

'It, my idiot apprentice, is the letter telling us how we're getting to London,' Hiko answered, shrugging Kenshin away from his shoulder.

'Oh, yeah,' Kenshin said, remembering that his school supplies were going to be bought in London. 'So, how exactly is this "Keyport" going to get us to London, Master?'

'One, it's called a "Portkey"; two, I'm not exactly sure how it works,' Hiko said reading over the letter. 'It says we just touch it and we'll be whisked away to someplace in London.'

Kenshin took a moment to contemplate the concept. 'Well,' Kenshin said after a minute. 'If it works, I guess I'll just have to believe that magic exists.' 'How come you believe in magic, Master? Did you get any kind of proof?' Kenshin added inquisitively.

'Yes, as a matter of fact, I did,' Hiko said.

After not getting a better answer than that for at least ten minutes while his master kept reading the rather long letter, Kenshin decided to expand his question. 'Ummm… Master, exactly what kind of proof did you get?'

Without looking up from his letter, Hiko replied 'I received this letter a few months after I received one from the same sender, Albus Dumbledore. As you can imagine, when I read the letter that was tied to an owl's, I was every bit as skeptical as you are right now about this whole magic business. But this Albus Dumbledore that if your powers were left untrained, as strong as they are, they wouldn't just go away. They would probably become more powerful, and without the training, you would have no control over them and probably cause a lot of trouble for me, thus ruining the quiet life of solitude I had. I wouldn't want to take any chances with that would I, so I wrote back to him saying I wanted some kind of proof. A few months later, he sent another letter-the one I'm holding in my hand- saying that he would pay me a visit at a certain time that would convince me if I just stayed inside my cabin warming up to the fire in the fireplace. I sent you away for more sake at the time he said he was going to arrive,' Hiko seemed to have finished reading his letter then and looked up at Kenshin. 'You should remember; it was the day I sent you to get sake from that store that didn't exist.'

'I knew that shop didn't exist!' Kenshin blurted out angrily, remembering that day a few weeks after his tenth birthday. 'No one I asked knew where it was. I looked for it for hours.'

'Yeah, well, while you were off on your wild goose chase, I was sitting in front of the fireplace, re-reading the letter, waiting for something unusual to happen,' Hiko began again. 'Sure enough, at the exact time Dumbledore said in his letter, the fire became green. Even more strange was that a man-a very old man judging from his hair and beard- stepped out of the fire. Though I was not stricken with awe or fear as a lesser man would be, I was absolutely convinced of the existence of magic in this world. Dumbledore wasted no time-he said he had pulled a few strings and called in quite a few favors to be there and could not stay long- in writing down, onto this very letter, the exact instructions we would have to follow to get to where we're going.'

'Ummmm…' said Kenshin, who had been lost ever since the part when the fire turned green. 'Could you… repeat everything you said since the green fire part, Master?'

Hiko sighed. 'A… man…named…Dumbledore… stepped… out… of…'

'I'm not a baby, Master. Please, just repeat it.'

'Alright, a man named Albus Dumbledore, - who is your headmaster I think- stepped out of the green fire. He only had a limited time to be there so he quickly wrote down our instructions onto here,' Hiko said, holding out the letter. 'And then he left.'

Kenshin thought about this and realized something strange about the whole thing. 'Why is it so important that I go to Hogwarts when I haven't shown any magical talent, Master?'

As if he were expecting this question, Hiko immediately answered, 'You did do something magical. Last year, the pottery I accused you of throwing away, you made it disappear magically,'

Any other time, Kenshin would have been mad at his master for blaming him for something Hiko had known wasn't his fault all along, but this time, something still was bothering him about the whole thing.

'So when did Dumbledore, I mean, Professor Dumbledore visit you, Master? Kenshin asked.

'Last year.'

'No, I mean in which month?'

'Around February I guess, why?' Hiko asked suspiciously.

'Isn't that during the school term?' Kenshin asked watching his master's reaction closely.

Because he was looking for it, Kenshin saw a small flicker of hesitation flash across Hiko's eyes before he answered, 'Yes.'

'So why would Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, leave school just so he could convince you to let me go to school? Was the job somehow too important to entrust to someone else, Master?' Kenshin asked, still watching his teacher.

This time however, Hiko's eyes were stony and gave away nothing. 'You are being paranoid, my idiot pupil. Why would convincing me to let you go to his school be too important for anyone else? He probably had a little free time and wanted something to do.' Then, Hiko smirked, 'Of course, ensuring that my quiet life went without interruptions is very important indeed. Maybe it **was** too big of a job to leave to someone else.'

Kenshin decided to stop interrogating him, thinking he would get nothing else out of it. 'Whatever you say, Master,' Kenshin said.

'It's getting late, idiot apprentice,' Hiko declared. 'Don't you want to know what we're supposed to do beforehand?'

'Yes, Master,' replied Kenshin, who had forgotten all about the portkey. 'How exactly do we use a portkey?'

Hiko pointed at the letter still in his hand and said, 'It says here that we must find it before noon on June 21st, which is tomorrow. It will be an old, moldy, black leather boot with missing buckles. We should find it right out next to an oak tree in the forest if we…'

'A boot, Master?' Kenshin interrupted incredulously. 'How is a boot going to get us to London?'

'It's magic, idiot apprentice,' Hiko said reprovingly. 'It's only in the form of a boot so other people won't touch it at the right time and accidentally go where we were supposed to go.'

'Ohhh,' Kenshin said, realizing the logic of the statement. 'Go on, Master'

'Where was I?…Oh yes, we will find the boot next to an oak tree in a clearing that we will find if we walk straight forward from the front of the cabin.'

_When will you admit that it's a shack and not a cabin? _Kenshin thought idly.

'And, if we're touching it by noon, it will take us to London.'

'Alright,' said Kenshin. After a few minutes of total silence, Kenshin asked, 'Master, how are we going to get the money to buy my supplies?'

'We can exchange our money for wizard's money,' Hiko replied.

'They have their own kind of money?' Kenshin asked.

'I would think so; what were you trying to ask?'

'Do we have any money, Master?'

'How do you think I buy my sake?'

'You sell the pottery you make, Master'

'That's right, so what's the problem?'

'You haven't sold any pottery ever since I made half your collection disappear, but you keep buying sake every week.'

'Oh.'

'…'

'…'

'…'

'Apprentice?'

'Yes, Master?'

'Go to town and sell the pottery.'

'Yes, Master.'

And for the first time in years, it was Kenshin who was chuckling at Hiko while he walked down to town- not the other way around.

This time, a note on Ki:

Ki translates most nearly into 'spirit'. I don't know a lot about Ki but from I do know is that Ki is most commonly used for Ken-Ki which either translates into 'fighter's spirit' or 'swordsman's spirit'. When a swordsman is as skilled as Hiko, he can not only sense other people's Ki but also hide his own almost completely from other swordsmen. How well he can hide it is determined by how skilled the other swordsmen are. Ki is in every living thing, not only in fighters, also. Ki has many uses but I'm not too sure on what they are exactly. Ki in Chinese is Chi- which is the word I think they used in the manga but I'm not sure on that either.


	4. Chapter 4: The Beginning

_Thoughts_

'Not translated dialogue '

"Translated dialogue

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or Harry Potter

**Chapter 4**

'Idiot apprentice, wake up,' Hiko whispered at Kenshin's sleeping form. 'Well, if you're not going to wake up,' Hiko whispered again, walking out of the cabin, 'I'll just have to find a more effective method.'

Ten minutes later, Hiko walked back in with a bucket in each hand. Once he got right next to his apprentice's cot, Hiko immediately overturned the bucket in his right hand over Kenshin's head. This proved a much better way of waking up Kenshin.

'ORO!' Kenshin exclaimed, at once leaping out of bed in response to the ice-cold river water.

'Get up, idiot pupil,' Hiko told Kenshin while he threw the other bucket's contents over whatever part of Kenshin the cold water didn't get to yet.

'Ah, Ah, Ah!' Kenshin yelled in response to the scalding water. In just a few moments, the different temperatures nullified each other though Kenshin still felt the after-effects while they walked out of the shack. Glaring at Hiko, Kenshin said, 'That was unfair, Master. You could have just yelled at me.'

'I did try to tell you to wake up but as my voice was so strangely delicate this morning, I could only manage to get a whisper out,' Hiko smirked. Kenshin's look told Hiko exactly what he thought of his "delicate" voice, which served only to amuse Hiko more.

'What time is it, Master?' Kenshin asked, dropping the subject.

'I don't know exactly, before noon I think,' Hiko answered, looking into the sky. Kenshin remembered that Hiko only could tell time by the sun's and moon's positions in the sky because he did not own a clock, watch, or any kind of time-teller. 'We'd better get going now if we want to make it in time.'

'Yes, Master,' Kenshin said, suppressing a yawn. Vaguely walking toward the direction the shack was facing, Kenshin groggily set out.

'Idiot apprentice!' Hiko called out from where he still stood next to the remains of the campfire. 'I didn't send you to sell my pottery just so we would forget it!'

'Oh yeah,' Kenshin said sleepily. The effects from the water had worn off by now.

'Perhaps I should throw ice on you this time,' Hiko said. 'Just plain water won't work I see.'

'N-No, Master,' Kenshin said while he instantly sped up. Within seconds he had gotten the considerable amount of money he gained last night and was standing next to Hiko. 'That won't be necessary. Water works just fine.'

'Don't forget your letter also; your supply list is in there along with the note we're supposed to give our guide in London.'

'Okay, Master,' said Kenshin who sped into the cabin and back again without complaints, not wanting to get ice thrown at him.

'Good, we're ready, idiot apprentice,' Hiko said, when Kenshin handed him the bag of money and the letter. 'Let's go.'

For about half an hour, they walked in silence. And then, Kenshin finally noticed that there was still an extra weight on his side and stopped walking. 'Master, we still have our swords with us,' Kenshin told Hiko.

'Yes, and your point is…?' Hiko replied, also stopping.

'Umm… didn't you say that most people don't carry weapons, much less swords, around with them anymore? That it was even illegal?'

'Yes, I seem to remember saying that. What are you trying to say, idiot apprentice?'

'Umm, well won't we be a little… out of place with our swords worn in plain view?' Kenshin asked, bewildered at his master's supposed ignorance.

'I thought I taught you to not care about how other people think of you, idiot apprentice.'

'You did, Master, it was how I survived living with you,' Kenshin agreed. 'But, won't the local police try to arrest us?'

'Us?' Hiko asked. 'They'll arrest you, whose sword is clearly visible at his side while I, whose sword is concealed by this cloak, will be let free.'

'Master!' Kenshin said angrily. 'Why can't I conceal my sword with yours?'

'Can't you recognize a joke when you hear one, idiot apprentice?' Hiko said. 'In actuality, I doubt that anyone who tries to arrest us will be able to catch us.'

'Oh, ok,' Kenshin said relieved and resumed walking.

Hiko sighed in response to his apprentice's thickness and soon caught up to him,

In mere minutes, they reached the clearing described in Dumbledore's instructions, and sure enough, they found the old boot. It was hidden among twenty-or-so other old objects- though none of the other ones were boots. Kenshin could only guess that the other stuff was there for extra camouflage. Hiko looked up into the sky to try and see the sun's position.

'It looks like we have an hour until noon, give or take a few hours,' Hiko said while Kenshin mentally cursed him for not getting an accurate watch. 'Of course, if he was talking about London time, then we would either be already a day late or a day early. I'm sure he was talking about our local time though, idiot apprentice,' he added when he saw Kenshin's very frustrated face.

'Well, what should we do now, Master?' Kenshin said through grinding teeth; his patience with his master's jokes was wearing thin.

'I guess we should touch the boot and wait until we've been transported to London,' Hiko said, thinking. 'If it hasn't whisked us away by the afternoon then we'll just try tomorrow. Maybe my calendar is a little inaccurate.'

Kenshin -who had already picked up the boot and had not listened to anything Hiko had said about his calendar maybe being inaccurate- called, 'Hurry up, Master, or we'll be late.'

'Always so impatient,' Hiko muttered as he too walked over and grabbed one side of the shoe.

Standing there holding a mangy old boot, the apprentice was feeling a little bit awkward. After a half-hour, Kenshin could not stand the silence anymore.

'So, uh, Master,' Kenshin said.

'What is it, idiot apprentice?' said Hiko.

'I was just wondering,' Kenshin began, 'about who taught you.'

'Well, when I was about as tall as you –maybe 4, 5 years old- I had a tutor who instructed me in various things such as Latin, English, Japanese, Math –' Hiko said before Kenshin interrupted.

'I meant who was your master in Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu,' Kenshin said, not wanting his Master's whole life story.

'Hiko Seijuro XII' Hiko answered. 'and of course since I was taught for more than 4 years, I had a very good grasp of the subjects.'

'Only 4 years? No, no you don't need to answer that, Master' Kenshin said hurriedly as he would rather not hear about his master's genius. Hiko obviously guessed why Kenshin interrupted him again because he smirked knowingly. 'What I really want to know is what your Master in Mitsurugi was like?'

'Hmmm…' Hiko thought. 'He was strong, very strong. And fast too. He had a very strong sense of justice. He was the one person I respected and looked up to,' Hiko reminisced.

'How did he die?' Kenshin asked, now fascinated by the man his master viewed as a role model.

Hiko didn't answer for a few minutes. 'That's not-' he didn't get any further words out.

With a sudden pull, Kenshin felt as if he were caught on a hook. He was being lifted up and pulled along at an incredible speed while the hand still on the portkey felt as if it were glued to the boot. And then, just as suddenly, he hit the ground.

Stumbling a bit, Kenshin quickly righted himself and looked at his surroundings. Though he was expecting it, the sight that greeted him astonished him. He and his master was no longer standing in a small clearing surrounded by trees. Now, they were standing on a large, secluded hill overlooking a very large city. It was late at night now, due to the time zone difference, and also…

_There's someone else here, _Kenshin realized as he whirled around to face the stranger. He saw him talking with his master, who was not as surprised as Kenshin was about there whereabouts and had noticed the other person's Ki the moment they arrived.

'…And who are you?' he heard his master ask the other man.

'I'm Qu-Quirrel, your son's D-Defense Against the D-D-Dark Arts P-P-Professor,' the pale, rather nervous and twitchy young man stammered. 'D-do you have your l-letter, Mr. H-Hiko?'

Hiko took out the envelope Kenshin gave him and took out one letter. Briefly unfolding it and looking it over, he handed it to Professor Quirrel.

'O-okay, let's g-get going.' Professor Quirrel said in his strange stuttering speech. 'And th-this must b-be Mr. Him-Hi-Himura?' he said, finally noticing Kenshin standing behind Hiko, this time stuttering from stumbling over Kenshin's foreign name.

'HEE-mu-ra, sir' Kenshin said, informing his professor how to pronounce his name correctly.

'Yes, of c-course,' Quirrel muttered. 'Well w-we better b-be going.'

Professor Quirrel set off toward the city, which Kenshin assumed was London. As Kenshin and Hiko followed him, they saw that even though it was late, there were still many people out walking around. And also, Kenshin found that the three of them drew many, many curious stares. Quirrel was wearing a strange bright purple suit with a matching purple turban on his head, completely covering the back of his head. Hiko, of course, was a seven-foot tall Asian man with a huge white cloak on. Kenshin had a blue training gi on and puffy white pants. What's more is that Kenshin, in plain view, had a Japanese Katana stuffed through the sash around his waist. The three of them together made a very strange sight indeed. Professor Quirrel was oblivious to the stares; Hiko was too preoccupied to notice; however, Kenshin was very uncomfortable.

'I told you we would look out of place, Master,' Kenshin hissed at Hiko.

However, Hiko seemed too deep in thought to reply. Kenshin soon realized that something was bothering him when he didn't throw back a retort. Right when Kenshin was about to ask his master what was the matter, Hiko began to slow down.

When they were around 15 feet behind Professor Quirrel, Hiko whispered at his apprentice 'Something is wrong with that Quirrel person, Kenshin. I want you to keep an eye on him.'

Kenshin was so surprised at being addressed as Kenshin by Hiko that it took him a minute to reply. 'What do you mean by that, Master?'

'I'm not sure, that's what is bothering me,' Hiko said. 'Something about his Ki is strange, but I can't figure out what.'

Kenshin could not sense anything wrong with Professor Quirrel's Ki. 'So you want me to keep watch him?' Kenshin asked dumbfounded.

'Yes, just make sure he doesn't try to kill anyone.'

Now Kenshin was really confused. 'How do you know he's going to try to kill someone, Master?'

'It's strange. You should be able to feel it if you try hard enough. It's hidden, a very malicious intent.'

Trying to dig deeper into Quirrel's Ki, Kenshin finally found what Hiko was talking about. Something was very strange with it. 'It's as if he has a dominant Ki and a dormant Ki!' he exclaimed.

'Yes, but that shouldn't be possible. No one should have two separate Ki signatures. That is why I want you to investigate this.' Hiko told Kenshin.

'You mean, you want me to spy on a professor?' Kenshin asked disbelievingly.

'Not necessary-'

'H-Hey, w-we're here!' Professor Quirrel half-stuttered half-yelled back at them, stopping in front of a small, kind of shabby pub.

'We'll finish this discussion later,' said Hiko as he quickly sped up to catch up to Professor Quirrel.

When Kenshin was right in front of the small inn, he asked, 'What exactly is "here", Professor?'

'This is th-the Leaky C-Cauldron, H-Himura. The entrance to Diagon Alley.'

'Where is it?' Hiko said, looking from side to side, not noticing the pub right in front of his eyes.

'Oh y-yes, I f-forgot you were a m-m-muggle, Mr. Hiko,' Professor said with a faintly disdainful tone. 'You will h-have to lead M-Mr. Hiko inside, H-Himura,' with that said, Professor Quirrel went inside the Leaky Cauldron.

'This way, Master,' Kenshin said bemusedly as he steered his master, not understanding how Hiko could not see the tiny, but obvious, building.

'I guess I was unable to see the building since I am not a wizard,' Hiko said when they entered the dark room.

'Oh,' Kenshin said absentmindedly, looking around at the curious occupants.

'Keep up, idiot apprentice!' Hiko called, having already spotted and followed Quirrel's disappearing figure.

'Yes, Master!' Kenshin said, running up to him. He followed Hiko and Professor Quirrel into a small, unremarkable courtyard with nothing but a trash can in it. Upon arriving, he saw Professor Quirrel apparently counting the bricks on the stretch of wall above the trash can with a sturdy twig.

'Th-Three up…t-two across, I th-think it was,' Professor Quirrel muttered to himself, touching the brick he ended on three times with his twig.

Just as Kenshin was wondering about Professor Quirrel's sanity, the brick wriggled-it actually wriggled! A hole was appearing in front of Kenshin wide eyes. Soon the hole was wide enough for even his Master to step through with plenty of headspace.

'Th-This is D-Diagon Alley, where y-you can get all of y-your schoolbooks, H-Himura,' Professor Quirrel stuttered. 'And now, if y-you two will excuse me, I m-must be g-going,' and Professor Quirrel turned around and went back into the Leaky Cauldron.

'Ororororo…' Kenshin said softly in awe.

'Well stop standing there staring and get in, idiot apprentice,' Hiko said, pushing Kenshin through the whole and then following him in. 'Neither of us have any idea where anything is or where we should go, but I think going to the bank first would be smart.'

Nodding more out of habit than from actually listening, Kenshin followed his after Hiko, trying to look everywhere at once. There were places selling cauldrons, owls, brooms, robes, telescopes, various animal body parts, spell books, quills, parchment, and many other things that Kenshin had never laid eyes on before. However, since it was nearly midnight by now, there weren't very many people shopping. In fact it seemed that the only people out were people who were taking stroll, not shopping.

'Ummm, Master, don't you think it's a little bit late to be shopping,' Kenshin asked Hiko who was also looking around, though without the blatant amazement Kenshin had.

'Yes, but I would bet that the bank would still be open -and with very few people there so we shouldn't have to wait in lines,' Hiko replied, still looking for anything that looked like it could be a bank. 'Ahh, that looks like it would be a bank.'

Looking at what his master had seen, Kenshin would have to agree. The white building in the distance was much larger than the other shops. It also didn't have any display windows to show off what it was selling. What it did have, though, were bronze doors with a very peculiar creature in a red and gold uniform standing next to them. If Kenshin had to guess, he would guess that the creature was a goblin or gremlin though he knew those were just in fairy tales. _But magic used to only be in fairy tales too, _Kenshin mused. Walking up closer to the goblin/gremlin, Kenshin saw that he was even shorter than himself and had a pointed beard.

As Kenshin and Hiko walked in, the goblin/gremlin bowed and said, 'Good evening, sirs, and welcome to Gringotts.' Then, the two were facing a pair of silver doors bearing the inscription:

_Enter, stranger, but take heed_

_Of what awaits the sin of greed_

_For those who take, but do not earn,_

_Must pay most dearly in their turn._

_So if you seek beneath our floors_

_A treasure that was never yours,_

_Thief, you have been warned, beware_

_Of finding more than treasure there._

_'_A very heartwarming greeting,' Hiko remarked as they walked through, past another two bowing goblin/gremlins.

Kenshin nodded in agreement. Through the doors was a big marble hall with around a hundred goblin/gremlins sitting behind a long counter. Hiko looked for a goblin not busy doing something and walked to the closest one.

'Hello, we would like to exchange some money for wizard's money,' Hiko informed him.

'What kind of muggle money is it, sir?' the goblin/gremlin asked.

Kenshin and Hiko glanced at each other. 'What exactly does "muggle" mean, sir?' Kenshin asked hesitantly.

The goblin/gremlin looked at them with what was close to disbelief and then muttered, 'definitely muggle money.' The, louder, he said 'It is a term that describes mostly non-magical people and their inventions, sir.'

'Then, it is Japanese muggle money: yen.'

'Very well, may I see the amount to be exchanged sir?' asked the goblin/gremlin with an out-stretched hand.

Hiko grabbed the bag from somewhere in his mantle and handed it to him.

'Thank you, sir. This will only take a moment,' said the goblin/gremlin, counting the many coins and bills in the bag.

'It is surprising that people would pay so much for **your** pottery,' Kenshin muttered to his master, watching the goblin/gremlin count the money.

'How is it surprising, idiot apprentice?' Hiko muttered back, also watching. 'I told you that my considerable skills were not limited to swords.'

'Mm-hmm,' Kenshin hummed disbelievingly.

Waiting for a few more minutes, the goblin/gremlin finally finished counting. He then jumped off of something- probably a tall chair or stool- and disappeared underneath the counter, apparently looking for something. He reappeared with a small roll of parchment and a quill in his hand. He wrote something on it- without dipping it in ink first, Kenshin noticed- and then called out, 'Griphook!'

Another goblin/gremlin walked over to the part of the counter the goblin/gremlin serving Hiko and Kenshin. The first goblin gave Griphook the parchment and instructed him, 'Take these gentlemen to the foreign exchange vault and give them the amount I have written.'

'Yes, sir,' Griphook said. 'Follow me sirs,' he said to Kenshin and Hiko.

He led them to a door leading out of the hall and into a small stone passageway. It took Kenshin a couple of seconds to adjust to the dim torchlight light after walking out of the bright, marble hall. Griphook led them downwards until they reached reached small railroad tracks. Griphook whistled and a small cart came speeding toward them.

'In we go, sirs,' Griphook told them as he climbed in. Kenshin climbed in without difficulty, but Hiko had to suffer a little discomfort considering his size. When they were all comfortably- or as comfortable as they could be in Hiko's case- inside the cart, they sped off into a maze of tunnels. The ride wasn't very long and before Kenshin knew it, they had stopped. In front of them was a small door in the wall. Griphook climbed out first with a lantern in one hand and a key in the other and then walked over to the door. He unlocked it while he explained 'the personal vaults are down below, but since this one doesn't belong to one specific family or customer, it doesn't get the same security.'

Kenshin understood their thinking, but he wondered if the vault should be down deeper when he saw what was inside. There were small mountains of gold, silver, and bronze coins inside the vast vault.

'Oro,' he said in amazement.

'The bronze ones are Knuts- they're worth the least-, the silver ones are Sickles- one's worth twenty-nine Knuts-, and the gold ones are Galleons- worth seventeen sickles,' Grihook explained, counting coins unbelievably fast and putting them in a small, leather bag. He soon filled one and took out another bag that looked exactly like the first and started filling that one too. When he was halfway through the fifth bag, a few minutes later, he stood up and tied it. '1568 Galleons, 7 Sickles and 17 Knuts in all, a very large amount. I exchanged a few Galleons for Sickles and Knuts so you'd have a more even amount, sir,' Griphook said, handing them the five bags.

'Thank you,' said Hiko as Kenshin just stared incredulously at the bulging bag of gold he had.

They rode a cart back and Kenshin recovered enough from his astonishment to say 'thank you' to Griphook. Soon they were once again standing in the cool night air, and it was probably past midnight by then. Kenshin realized how tired he was for only being up for a few hours. 'Master, where will we stay for the night?' Kenshin asked sleepily.

'Tired already, idiot apprentice?' Hiko asked. 'It's understandable. I think the Leaky Cauldron doubles as an inn; we can get a room from there.'

'Th-Thank you, Master' Kenshin said, stifling a yawn.

Kenshin was barely awake through the walk back to the Leaky Cauldron; he was so tired. When they got into the room Hiko rented, Kenshin literally collapsed on the bed. He only had one thought before he surrendered to unconsciousness. _If today was this exciting, I wonder what tomorrow has in store._

Author's note: I don't know why but what I was planning to say about Ki wasn't said. What I wanted to add was that Ki shows someone's emotions if he or she doesn't hide his Ki so, since Hiko could sense Kenshin's Ki, he could predict when he was going to move and where.


	5. Chapter 5: The Spells

1We'll probably meet the Harry Potter group in the next few chapters when Kenshin gets on the train.

_Thoughts_

'Not translated dialogue '

"Translated dialogue

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or Harry Potter

**Chapter 5**

'Idiot apprentice, you awake?'

Kenshin opened his eyes groggily. 'No.'

'Then get awake; we need to get you some normal clothes soon, unless you want to walk around in the clothes you have on right now all day,' Hiko said.

Kenshin looked at himself; he was still wearing the clothes he had on last night. 'No, I'll get up,' he said reluctantly. 'What time is it?'

Hiko looked at the clock on the wall of the room they had rented. 'Around 6:30 in the morning.'

'Are you serious, Master?' Kenshin asked. He could not believe he had slept in so long.

'Yes, so you better get ready now,' Hiko said, turning around to walk out the door. 'I'll be waiting downstairs.' He stopped and then threw a letter over to the bed. 'Your acceptance letter came last night. It seems your riding a train to get to Hogwarts. Don't loose your ticket.'

'Okay, Master,' Kenshin mumbled, opening the already opened envelope. He found a ticket inside. It said the train was leaving from Platform 9¾ on September 1 at 11:00 A.M. He decided to give the ticket to Hiko for safe keeping and then reluctantly got out of bed. The bed was so much more comfortable then the little cot in Hiko's shack had been. Maybe that was why he slept in so late: he didn't want to leave the bed.

Kenshin walked to the bathroom and washed his face briefly. Then he attempted to brush his teeth but halfway through, he found himself dozing off. He spat out the rest of the toothpaste, rinsed his mouth, and then filled the washbasin with icy cold water. When the sink was full to the brim, he dunked his head into the water and held it there for 5 full minutes. He came up gasping for air but fully awake now. After drying his head off with a towel, he walked out of the room and down to the pub area.

Kenshin looked around for his master and found him easily. Hiko, with his height and bright cloak, stood out like a sore thumb. Kenshin walked over and asked him, 'Could you hold onto this for me, Master?'

'I didn't know you trusted me so much, idiot apprentice. I am very touched,' Hiko said with a smirk on his face, as he put the envelope somewhere in his cloak.

'Right, ready to go, Master?'

'Yes,' was the reply as Hiko walked out toward Diagon Alley. Kenshin followed him out and found Hiko waiting for him. 'Use the hilt of your sword and tap the same brick that Quirrel did yesterday,' Hiko instructed him.

'Why can't you do it, Master?' Kenshin asked as he did what was told.

'It wouldn't open for me, I think, because I am not magical,' Hiko said, walking through the hole that appeared and looking annoyed at his disadvantage of not being a wizard.

'The shops should be open, idiot apprentice. Look for one that sells clothes,' Hiko told Kenshin.

'Okay, Master,' Kenshin said, looking from side to side as they walked. Even though it was early, there were a lot more people out and about than there were last night.

'Do you still have your letter, apprentice?' Hiko asked Kenshin while he looked around also.

'Umm- yeah,' Kenshin said as he pulled it out of the place in his gi where he had stuffed it into last night. 'The letters are a little crumpled up but they're still legible, Master.'

'Good, look for your supply list and tell me what you need to wear for school, apprentice.'

Kenshin looked into the envelope and pulled out the only letter still folded up properly. Seeing that it was the supply list, he quickly scanned it to know what to look forward to.

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

Three sets of plain work robes (black)

One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

One pair of protected gloves (dragon hide or similar)

One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

_The Standard Book of spells (Grade 1) _By Miranda Goshawk

_A History of Magic _by Bathilda Bagshot

_Magical Theory_ by Adalbert Waffling

_A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration _by Emeric Switch

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi _by Phyllida Spore

_Magical Drafts and Potions _by Arsenius Jigger

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them _by Newt Scamander

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection _by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

'Hurry up, apprentice,' Hiko said, becoming annoyed

'It says that I need three sets of plain work robes- black plain work robes; one black plain pointed hat for day wear; one pair of protective gloves … made out of dragon hide or something similar; and one black winter cloak with silver fastenings. Oh, and I should have a name tag on everything,' Kenshin said.

'Good. I think we can get all that over there,' Hiko said, stopping and pointing at a shop.

Kenshin looked over to where Hiko was pointing at. It was named: Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. 'Yes, Master,' Kenshin agreed.

'Well, let's go, apprentice,' he said. The both of them walked into Madam Malkin's shop.

A smiling witch who Kenshin guessed could only be Madam Malkin said to them, 'My, you two are up early.' As Kenshin was about to apologize, she went on and said, 'No matter, are you a new Hogwart's student, dear? Got your whole uniform- and quite few others's- right here. Now if you will step into the back, we can have you fitted in no time at all.'

When Kenshin didn't move- because he didn't wasn't used to being talked to so fast in English and didn't know if she was done yet- Hiko gave him a little nudge. 'My apprentice is from Japan and isn't very used to listening to English if it isn't spoken by me yet,' he explained to Madam Malkin.

'That's quite all right,' she said, smiling still and leading Kenshin to the back of the shop. There, she had Kenshin stand on a footstool and draped a robe much too long over him. As she was pinning the robe to the right length she said, 'So you've come all the way from Japan, have you?'

'Yes, ma'am,' Kenshin said politely.

'I can't say I've seen anyone with your shade of hair color before. Is it a common one in Japan?' Madam Malkin asked in a friendly voice.

'No, ma'am, I haven't seen anyone else with my hair color either.'

'Well I'd say that you'll have a lot of girls chasing after you with your looks,' She said with a smile as Kenshin flushed a deep shade of red.

'Th-Thank you ma'am, I think,' Kenshin said, confused at how this had come up.

'What's your name, dear?' she asked again in a few minutes when Kenshin's face had returned to its normal color.

'Kenshin, ma'am- Kenshin Himura.'

'Well, Kenshin, I'd say that you're just about done with the fitting.'

'Thank you, ma'am.' Kenshin said stepping down from the stool

'You're welcome, dear,' Madam Malkin said as she gathered all of Kenshin's clothes up.

A few minutes later, Kenshin and Hiko paid Madam Malkin and walked outside.

When they walked into a shop called Flourish and Blotts, they still had plenty of money so Kenshin bought everything that looked interesting along with his school books. They left with a stack of books as tall as Kenshin. Of course, Kenshin had to carry all of them ('They're your books. Why should I have to carry them?') . After they bought all of the books, they went to a store to get their potion supplies. Kenshin promptly bought a pewter cauldron and dumped his books into it.

'What's left to buy, idiot apprentice?' Hiko asked when it was close to 3:00, going back to calling Kenshin "idiot apprentice", probably because Hiko was carrying all of the supplies.

'Just my wand and a pet, Master.'

'Do you need a pet?' Hiko asked.

'No, but I really, really, really want one!' Kenshin said enthusiastically.

'Fine, but choose one that will not make a mess,' Hiko said, immediately relenting.

'Thank you!' Kenshin said happily. Kenshin's mood had become much happier and more child-like the longer they kept buying stuff.

'First, let's get your wand,' Hiko said.

'Okay, Master,' Kenshin said. 'How about we go there?' Kenshin suggested pointing at a store called Ollivanders: Makers of Fine wands since 382 B.C.

'Alright, just don't take too long,' Hiko said as he followed Kenshin into the store.

Hiko sat on the only chair in the tiny shop while Kenshin waited for someone to appear.

'Be alert, apprentice,' Hiko sighed as Kenshin looked for the person Hiko most obviously had already noticed.

'Wha-?' Kenshin started as he turned right into the face of an old wizard.

'Hello, there,' the man, who had to be Mr. Ollivander, said. 'I guessed I would be meeting you soon, Mr. Himura. You've come all the way from London, am I correct?'

'Erm, yes, sir,' Kenshin said, confused about how Mr. Ollivander knew his name.

'Well, it is always good to have a muggle born wizard in here; makes the wands' choosing so much more unpredictable and exciting,' Mr. Ollivander went on.

Kenshin nodded, very confused about what Mr. Ollivander was talking about.

'Shall we get started then, Mr. Himura?' Mr. Ollivander asked. 'Hold out your wand arm,' he added immediately, not waiting for an answer.

'I assume Mr. Ollivander means your sword arm, apprentice,' Hiko suggested helpfully while Kenshin looked as confused as ever.

'Oh, alright,' Kenshin said as he held out his right arm.

'Just a few measurements to do,' Mr. Ollivander said as he used a tape measure to measure everything from Kenshin's finger length to the space between his nostrils. To Kenshin's surprise, the tape measure kept measuring even after Mr. Ollivander left for the shelves in the back of the dark corner.

'That will be enough,' he said, and the tape measure dropped to the floor. Mr. Ollivander had come back with a wand for Kenshin to test. 'Yew and unicorn hair, 8 inches,' he stated as he held it out for Kenshin. 'Go on, give it a wave.'

Kenshin took the wand, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it back before Kenshin could so much as lift it over his head. 'Here, try this one. Holly and dragon heartstring, 13 inches, very pliant,' he said holding out another wand for Kenshin to try. Kenshin actually got the wand above his head before it was snatched away too.

'How about this one? Holly and phoenix feather, 11 inches, rather supple,' Mr. Ollivander said. Kenshin waved it around once or twice, feeling very foolish, before Mr. Ollivander took that one away also.

Kenshin didn't know that it would take so long to get a magic wand. He the pile of unsuitable wands had formed a small mountain on the counter. Instead of getting frustrated however, Mr. Ollivander just seemed to get happier and happier the more wands Kenshin tried.

'Let's try an unusual combination. Rowan and dragon heartstring plus phoenix feather, 10 inches.'

Kenshin took it, doubtful of finding a wand at all, so it came as a surprise as he felt warmth shooting through his fingers. He brought it over his head and then slashed it down as he would slash his sword. To his surprise, silver and gold sparks shot out of the tip of the wand.

'Good, good!' Mr. Ollivander cried excitedly. He put it in the box and wrapped it. 'It's always good to find a wand isn't it. Though, it's really the wand who finds the wizard. Yes, indeed.'

Kenshin just nodded. He was too excited at having his own wand. He couldn't wait until he could try it out. He paid the seven Galleons, and Mr. Ollivander bowed to them as Kenshin and Hiko walked out.

'Can we go back to the inn now, apprentice?' Hiko asked.

'Can I please get an owl for a pet, Master?' Kenshin asked imploringly.

'Are you sure, apprentice? I thought you didn't want to be seen in those clothes out here,' Hiko remarked, looking at Kenshin questioningly.

'Oh,' Kenshin had forgotten to change into his newly bought robes. 'Well, it doesn't matter. I've been in plain view for hours and nobody has noticed my clothes yet.'

Hiko sighed. 'Alright, let's see what we can get for you as a pet.'

They walked out of Eeylops Owl Emporium half an hour later with a new hawk owl. Kenshin was very happy about his new friend but could not figure out what his name should be.

'Master, what do you think I should name him?' Kenshin asked Hiko as they walked back to the Leaky Cauldron.

'He is your pet. His name is your responsibility,' Hiko replied unhelpfully. 'Try to choose one that you like, apprentice.'

Kenshin was still pondering about his new owl's name when he walked into his room in the Leaky Cauldron

'I'm going downstairs to gather information about this world,' Hiko called out as he walked out of the room right after coming in. 'Read some books in the meantime. Try some spell.'

Kenshin nodded absent-mindedly. He pondered about his new owl's name. He wanted one that his new pet would approve of. He looked into his owl's cage and decided to let him out. The owl hopped out and looked at Kenshin with an intelligence that seemed characteristic to all owls in the wizarding world.

'How would Hiko sound to you?' Kenshin asked the owl.

The owl hooted with what Kenshin interpreted as disapproval.

Kenshin pondered for a few more minutes. He finally asked, 'How about Hitmit?'

The owl seemed to think about this one. After a few seconds, he nodded and then hopped back into the cage to sleep.

Kenshin felt elated at having named his new pet. 'Well, Hitmit, I guess I should follow Master's orders and start reading.'

Kenshin pulled out a random book- The Standard Book of Spells Grade 1- and started reading. Finishing the introduction, he decided he was ready to try out a spell. He picked a spell that made things levitate.

'Wingardium Levioza!' Kenshin shouted, waving his wand at a pencil he had found. He frowned when the pencil didn't do anything. Kenshin consulted the book again and found that it was an 's' and not a 'z'.

'Wingardium Leviosa!' Kenshin shouted confidently, waving his wand around. To his disappointment, the pencil didn't so much as turn over. He decided that magic was much more than gestures and shouting words. Turning back to the book, Kenshin decided to read the text underneath the incantation.

Ten minutes later, Kenshin decided to give the Levitating charm another try. _Swish and Flick, Swish and Flick, Swish and Flick, _Kenshin thought as he practiced moving his wand. Feeling ready, Kenshin shouted for the third time, 'Wingardium Leviosa!' this time stressing the sounds that the book instructed to stress. Swishing and flicking, the pencil gave a feeble sort of back flip. That, however, was enough to make Kenshin very happy.

'I can do magic,' Kenshin said to himself happily. But Kenshin didn't stop there. He wanted to be able to make the pencil touch the ceiling of their room before Hiko came back. He decided that he wasn't saying the incantation right.

'Win-_GAR_-dium Levi-_O_-sa!' Kenshin said again and again, swishing and flicking his wand, each time the pencil going off the ground a little bit higher and longer than the last time. Finally, after nearly half an hour of continuous trying, the pencil hit the ceiling and stayed there. Kenshin let out a little whoop of satisfaction waving his wand around and making the pencil do laps around the room. He waved it a little bit too happily and the pencil accidentally got lodged into the wall separating the bathroom from the main living quarters. After jumping up and tugging it out, Kenshin decided to move on to another spell.

He looked for about ten minutes in search of a useful spell.

'Unlocking seems to be a useful little spell,' Kenshin murmured to himself and the sleeping Hitmit.

Kenshin went over to the bathroom door and locked it. Just as he was reading about the spell, Hiko walked into the room.

'Apprentice, I've found out that it is not exactly legal that kids under the age of 17 to do magic outside of school, but I have also learned that the Ministry of Magic cannot detect the exact perpetrator so just do not let anybody see you practicing,' Hiko said before walking out of the room again.

'Wha- perpe- am I a criminal!' Kenshin exclaimed at the doorway his master had just vacated.

'No!' was the reply. 'Just keep practicing secretly.'

Kenshin looked at Hitmit as if he would be able to tell Kenshin what to do. Kenshin decided finally to trust Hiko and blame him if this Ministry turned up to arrest Kenshin.

'Alright, let's see,' Kenshin muttered to himself as he finished reading the paragraph on the unlocking spell. 'I'm pretty sure noone has made this door unlockable so this should work.'

Kenshin pointed his wand at the door and said, 'Alohomora!' With a click, the door's lock became unlocked. Delighted at the success of his first attempt, Kenshin opened another spellbook that sounded more interesting.

He opened Curses and Countercurses to the first curse that it described. The book called it a jinx, but Kenshin couldn't distinguish the difference between jinxes and curses. It was called the jelly-legs jinx. He hoped that it wouldn't actually turn the person's legs to jelly because he was going to test it on himself. He wouldn't even think about jinxing or cursing someone unless it was in self-defense. Hiko had hammered manners into Kenshin ever since he was first given a sword.

With only the slightest sense of foreboding, Kenshin pointed his wand at himself and shouted 'Tarantallegra!' as he would shout when he was attacking with his sword.

Instantly, a jet of light hit Kenshin and pushed him back an inch or two. He was so surprised at seeing the jet of light when the other two spells had no visible path that he didn't notice that his legs were acting strangely until he kicked a bed.

'Ow,' Kenshin said out of surprise as he looked down at his foot. His legs seemed to be doing some sort of wild tapdance. Whatever he did, he could not stop his legs from moving. The next time he passed the book of curses in his dance, he swept down and scooped it up. He looked for something that would make his legs stop.

'Erm...ummm...' Kenshin hummed nervously as he looked for something; by that time he had knocked over a desk, table, and, surprisingly, a bed. He finished reading the paragraph on the jelly-legs jinx (something he forgot to do beforehand) and found a spell that would take off the effect of any spell cast on a person, though, the book said it was a rather difficult spell.

'Finite Incantatem!' Kenshin shouted, desperately hoping to stop himself, once again pointing at himself with his wand. Instantly his legs stopped moving. Kenshin let out a sigh of relief and went to put the furniture back in its correct place. The moment he lifted his leg though, Kenshin's legs started dancing uncontrollably again.

'Oro!' slipped out of Kenshin's mouth. Kenshin confidently said again, 'Finite Incantatem' but this time, nothing changed. Confused, Kenshin tried again. And again. And again. Each time he tried, nothing changed. Kenshin could not think of what was wrong with his spell.

Briefly- very briefly- Kenshin considered stabbing himself in both his legs so they would be too weak to move. Very quickly, Kenshin decided to do something else. He would stop himself by magic: preferably magic that did no harm to the user.

_What was I doing differently the first time?_ Kenshin thought fervently as he kicked the bed one time after another now. _Well, I was humming. I doubt that would help. What else? What else?_

Kenshin was getting nervous again. He had been afflicted with the jinx for more than ten minutes already. He reasoned that someone might come knocking on his door asking for the reason for all the racket Kenshin was making. It was illegal to do magic if he was under 17 years old and not in his school, and he had just turned 11 according to the English way of aging: much younger than 17. He didn't want to get sent to prison on his first real day in the magical world.

Kenshin tried to remember anything Hiko might have told him to do if Kenshin messed up at something- which happened very often. Kenshin imagined his master's voice in his head.

_Idiot apprentice, you are not concentrating hard enough! You must tackle every obstacle whole-heartedly if you expect any kind of favorable result._

_Of course, _realized Kenshin. _I must be concentrated to be able to use magic effectively. It's just like wielding a sword._

Glad that Hiko had taught him something useful, Kenshin concentrated with all his considerable willpower on stopping his legs. 'Finite Incantatem!' Kenshin shouted pointing his wand at himself. Just as what had happened the first time he had used the spell, Kenshin's legs immidiately stopped moving. However, he was not sure about his success. For all he knew, he had just stopped the jinx temporarily again. Gingerly, Kenshin lifted his leg off the ground an inch. When his legs didn't start up again, Kenshin started walking around experimentally. After ten dance-free minutes, Kenshin let out a whoop of triumph. And then the door opened.

'Is this what happens when I leave you alone with a magic twig?' Hiko asked as he glanced around at the room, his eyes finally resting on Kenshin and the wand he had in his hand still.

Kenshin looked too. The room looked like it had been through a hurricane. The table was overturned. The chair was on one of the beds. The bed without the chair on it was on its side. The other bed had a few dents in it where Kenshin had unwillingly kicked it. Only Hitmit's cage and the bathroom were unaffected. Hitmit was miraculously still asleep.

'Sorry, Master,' Kenshin said looking at the ground and shamefacedly twiddling his thumbs. 'I was just practicing my magic.'

Hiko sighed. 'Yes, you always learned by overreaching, apprentice,' he said. 'I don't blame you. But I will still make you clean this mess up, apprentice, while I fill you in on what I've learned.'

'Thank you, Master,' Kenshin said as he started cleaning the room at once, glad that he hadn't been punished with another spar. His side still twinged at the memory.

'For one thing, apprentice, the people of this world have been terrorized by a wizard named Lord Voldemort. Though he has been...'

As Kenshin listened, he thought of the wonderful world he had been introduced to. Each day brought more miracles and discoveries. Think of what he could experience at Hogwarts, with kids his age. He could maybe even make some friends.


	6. Chapter 6: The Platform

1_Thoughts_

'Not translated dialogue '

"Translated dialogue

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or Harry Potter

**Chapter 6**

'Are you sure that it is Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, Master?' Kenshin asked for

what must have been the tenth time that day.

'Yes, apprentice,' Hiko answered for what probably was the tenth time that day.

The two people from Japan were currently standing in between Platform Nine and Ten of the King's Cross train station at exactly 9:15 A.M. London time. The duo had arrived fifteen minutes earlier and had drawn fifteen minutes' worth of stares. They had walked from Platform Nine to Platform Ten without seeing a single fraction. Their inconspicuousness was not helped at all by Hitmit hooting in annoyance. They had decided to stop pacing and stand in front of the dividing barrier between Platforms 9 and 10 until they could decide on their next course of action.

'Do you know how we're supposed to get onto Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, Master?' Kenshin asked Hiko.

'No, apprentice,' Hiko replied exasperatedly. 'If I did, we would most likely be on the platform by now.'

'Of course, Master,' Kenshin said. 'I am just worried that I'll miss my train.'

'We have an hour and forty-five minutes, give or take a few seconds, until you're train leaves, apprentice,' Hiko reassured Kesnhin. 'If we can not find a way to get onto the platform, we can always start tapping on bricks with your magic twig.'

'Wand,' corrected Kenshin.

'It's made out of wood and it's not long enough to be a branch,' said Hiko. 'It's a twig.'

'Yes, Master,' Kenshin relented. 'Do you think that tapping bricks would help, Master? Wouldn't that be a little bit obvious?'

'What do you mean, Apprentice?'

'Well, all these people -these muggles- would notice us, wouldn't they?' Kenshin pointed out, using a term that Hiko taught Kenshin in his lessons on the wizarding world.

'That's just a risk we'll have to take, apprentice,' Hiko said. 'Besides, nobody saw us walk into that invisible inn too.'

'Oh yeah,' Kenshin said, remembering how neither his master nor any of the muggles could see the Leaky Cauldron.

Hiko looked at Kenshin. 'Well,' he said. 'What are you waiting for?'

'Oro?' Kenshin said. 'I should start tapping now?'

' "Now or never"is what they say, apprentice,' Hiko said, gesturing at the nearest wall, the barrier that divided Platforms 9 and 10.

Kenshin sighed. As discreetly as he could, Kenshin pulled his wand out of his sword sash. He was still wearing his training clothes -robes, both of them agreed, would be even stranger than what he had on now- though he had left his sword with his master for safe keeping; he didn't want to be even stranger-looking than he already was.

Kenshin tentatively tapped the brick right in front of him. To his immense surprise, his wand met nothing to tap. It seemed as if the wall was not made of bricks but of air.

'M-Master?' Kenshin said.

'Hmmm,' Hiko mused. 'It's either a trap, in which case we would be better off not sticking any body part through, or it's the entrance to our platform.'

'Who'd want to lay a trap for us?' Kenshin asked with an eyebrow raised.

'Good point,' Hiko said. He then shoved Kenshin through. Grabbing the luggage that Kenshin had left behind in his hasty entrance, Hiko followed.

Kenshin stumbled a bit out of surprise but managed to keep his balance. When he looked up, he saw a scarlet steam engine in front of him. The sign above it named it the Hogwarts Express.

'See? Nothing to worry about,' said Hiko who came up right beside him.

'You are very mean, Master,' Kenshin said under his breath. Hiko smiled a little.

The train didn't leave for an hour and a half but already the platform was filled with witches and wizards. Kenshin could see that a few of the cars in front were already packed full. Not wanting to be left without a seat, Kenshin said 'goodbye' toward his master and then set out for the train.

'Hold on, apprentice,' Hiko said, grabbing Kenshin by the back of his shirt. 'Don't forget your luggage and katana.'

'Oh ye- my katana!' Kenshin exclaimed. 'Why do I need it?'

'I can't have you going rusty, can I,' Hiko said. 'I don't want to have to retrain you when you come back.'

'But it's a murderous weapon; I'm going to SCHOOL. It. Is. Not. Allowed!'

'Just take it, apprentice.'

'No.'

'Why not?'

'I told you why not!' Kenshin yelled.

'Keep your voice down, idiot apprentice. You'll attract stares.'

Kenshin looked around. Indeed, a few of the people near them were already turning their heads to stare at the two of them.

'Just take it.'

'I don't want it while I'm at school.'

'You won't have to kill anyone with it, just practice.'

'It's too dangerous. What if someone walks in on me while I'm training and I accidentally take off their head?'

'His or her head,' Hiko corrected. 'And I taught you how to sense Ki. Just run away when you sense someone.'

'I don't want a weapon like that near me while I'm, around people my own age.'

'Fine.'

'It'll kill peo... fine?' Kenshin asked incredulously.

'Yes, fine,' Hiko said. 'You won't have to take this with you.'

'Thank you, Master,' Kenshin sighed relieved.

'I'm not giving up. You'll practice your swordsmanship,' Hiko went on. 'Just not with a Katana.'

'Oro?' Kenshin said. 'Am I going to be using a bamboo shinai?'

'No, you'd break that,' Hiko said.

'Then, ho-' Kenshin was cut off as Hiko said 'You'd better find a compartment.'

Kenshin had his luggage pushed into his hands and then was pushed toward a compartment near the back of the train.

'Here, this one's empty,' Hiko told Kenshin. 'Go on.'

Kenshin climbed through the train door and heaved his trunk in after him. After managing to get his stuff and Hitmit in, Kenshin turned back toward Hiko and asked, 'How will I practice if I don't have a katana?'

'Don't worry about that now; let me worry about that,' Hiko said with a unconcerned wave of his hand. 'Just don't forget to write.' And then Hiko was striding through the growing crowds and was gone.

Kenshin decided to do what he always did: follow Hiko's instructions. Putting sword matters in the back of his mind, he started changing into his new wizard robes. Kenshin decided that he looked even more like a girl than he used to after he had gotten into his robes. _At least my hair is as short as a boy's,' _Kenshin thought dully.

To help pass the time, Kenshin let Hitmit out of his cage, but not without first instructing him to stay inside the compartment. Kenshin didn't want to go out of the compartment without it being absolutely necessary, especially since he was now in something that looked very much like a dress. It was while Kenshin was watching Hitmit fly around happily that he had his first visitor.

'Excuse me, may I sit in your compartment, please?'

Please review (I think that's the first time I've said that so please review for the other chapters too). Thanks and sorry this chapter's so short for such a long wait.I wish schooldidn't start until all the kids wanted to go back but i haven't thiought it all out so there's probably some kind of downside.


	7. Chapter 7: The Train

1_Thoughts_

'Not translated dialogue '

"Translated dialogue

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or Harry Potter

**Chapter 7**

Harry Potter was a peculiar boy. He was eleven years old give or take a month. He never

looked forward to his birthday as most other English boys do. He was very rich yet most of his wardrobe consisted of second-hand clothes. He had never been in a serious fight, even including the many beatings bullies had given him, but he had a very noticeable scar on his forehead. And, like the hero of this story, Harry Potter was a wizard.

Harry was arguably the most famous wizard in most of Europe. At age 11, he was already noted for conquering one of the most powerful dark wizards in history, Lord Voldemort. This Lord Voldemort had terrorized the wizarding world for decades before he suffered defeat at the hands of young Harry, something that Hiko had told Kenshin in his many Wizard Culture lessons. The strange thing is that Harry has no idea how he had defeated Voldemort, the one who had killed many wizards much more powerful than Harry. All that Harry knew was from stories that he had heard only a month ago. He knew that Voldemort first killed Harry's parents. He knew that after disposing of Harry's parents, Voldemort tried to kill Harry. He also knew that when Voldemort tried to kill Harry, the magical curse that Voldemort used backfired and hit Voldemort instead of Harry. Harry was left with nothing worse than a lightning-shaped scar on top of his forehead while Voldemort was most likely either dead or so powerless that he was as good as dead.

However, none of that mattered to Harry right then. What mattered to him was whether he could find a seat on the train. This train didn't wait for anything less than total annihilation. This train was the Hogwarts Express- the train that took promising young wizards to the magic school of Hogwarts. Harry had looked into every compartment and none of them were empty. In fact, the only one that wasn't full was the one he was standing in front of. He hadn't had any friends before so his self-esteem was very low. He was very nervous and shy so he had to work up some considerable courage to talk to someone his own age. He finally opened the compartment door.

'Excuse me, may I sit in your compartment please?'

The compartments only occupant, a Japanese boy with striking red hair, looked down in surprise. He was watching an owl fly around near the ceiling. Then, after a moment, he smiled and said in very fluent English, 'Of course.'

Harry smiled back and lifted his trunk up the steps. Or at least, he tried to lift his trunk. He couldn't even lift one end of it without dropping it in a few seconds. By the third attempt, his face was burning from the strain and embarrassment. He was looking like a weak fool.

'Can I help?'

Harry looked up at the Japanese boy and gasped, 'Please do.'

The boy got out and the two of them managed to get the trunk up the steps and into the compartment. Both of the boys stepped in to the compartment and shared a triumphant laugh.

'My name is Kenshin Himura,' the Japanese boy said. 'What's yours?'

'Harry,' Harry answered. 'Harry Potter.'

To Harry's delight, Kenshin showed no recognition to his name. Harry was still a little unnerved by his own fame.

'So, are you a first-year student too, Harry?' Kenshin asked.

'Yeah,' Harry replied. 'And you are too?'

'Yep,' Kenshin beamed.

'Going to Hogwarts should be fun, don't you think?'

'Definitely,' Kenshin said. 'I imagine that Hogwarts will be full of magic. I grew up without knowing a thing about magic so I'm eager to know what Hogwarts will be like.'

'I know what you mean,' Harry said, with a relieved smile. 'My parents were a witch and wizard, but I grew up with my relatives. They're muggles, and horrible ones to boot. I was worried I would be the only one at school who didn't grow up without knowing about magic.'

'I was worried about that too. I guess we'll just have to learn about this world together,' Kenshin said.

'Yeah,' Harry said with a big smile. He was so glad to have finally made a friend. He wasn't exaggerating when he said that his relatives were horrible. The Dursleys were Harry's relatives from his mother's side and they absolutely abhorred magic. Apparently, when the Dursleys took Harry in, they were afraid that he would be a wizard and, for some reason, thought that by seriously mistreating Harry they could somehow force the magic out of him. Needless to say, they were wrong, and Harry had left them to go to Hogwarts feeling the happiest he could ever remember feeling.

'So why do you live with your relatives and not your parents?' Kenshin asked.

Harry's smile lost a few molars. He was worried how his new friend would think about him if he found out that Harry was an orphan.

'Well,-' Harry was cut off as the train lurched forward and started moving.

Kenshin apparently sensed that he had hit a sore subject. 'I'm sorry, that was a stupid question to ask,' he said.

'No, that's okay,' Harry said. He decided that if he was going to be friends with Kenshin, then he shouldn't hide things. 'My parents were killed by Voldemort.'

Kenshin seemed momentarily speechless. Then, he quietly said, 'I'm sorry.'

'Don't be,' Harry said. 'It wasn't your fault.'

They sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds. Then-

'So that means that you're-' Kenshin began.

Then, the compartment door opened. A boy with red-hair stuck his head in nervously.

'Anyone sitting in that seat?' he asked, pointing at the seat next to Kenshin. 'Everywhere else's full.'

Harry recognized the boy. When Harry had arrived at the train station, he had no idea how to get onto the correct platform. He had spotted the boy- Harry remembered his name was Ron- along with his three brothers, one sister, and one mother, with an owl. He knew that keeping owls as pets was not normal for a muggle family and had moved closer. He heard them talking about Hogwarts so he asked the mother how to get on. She kindly gave him instructions and informed him that Ron was going into his first year too.

Kenshin shook his head and the boy sat down next to him, relieved.

'Thanks,' Ron said. 'My name's Ron Weasley,' he added as an afterthought.

'Kenshin Himura,' Kenshin said, smiling again.

'Harry Potter.'

Ron's eyes went wide. 'So you were Harry Potter!' he blurted out. 'Er- I thought I saw your scar. Do you really-?' Ron pointed at Harry's forehead.

Harry pulled back his bangs to reveal the scar- he had taken to hiding it whenever he was near magical people because they had a tendency to give him a lot of unwarranted reverence.

'Is that where You-Know-Who,- you know-'

'Tried to kill you?' Kenshin finished quietly for Ron.

'Yes,' Harry said. 'I don't remember any of it though.'

'None of it?' Ron asked eagerly.

'Well,' Harry thought. 'If I try hard enough, I can remember a lot of green light, but that's all.'

'Wow,' Ron said nonetheless. Kenshin seemed to be pondering about this and said nothing.

Harry was eager to change the subject to something he felt more comfortable and interested about so he asked Ron 'Are your whole family wizards?'

'Er- I think so,' Ron replied. 'I think my mum might have a second muggle cousin but we don't talk about him.'

Kenshin seemed interested by an all-magic family too and asked 'So you must already know a lot of magic.'

Ron seemed flustered by all the attention. 'Not really. Mom wouldn't be too happy if I was trying to do any serious magic.'

'How about you two?' Ron asked. 'I heard that you went to live with muggles, Harry, but I don't know anything about you, Kenshin.'

'Yeah, me neither,' Harry remarked.

'Umm,' Kenshin looked a little nervous. 'I'm an orphan really. I live in Japan with my master who teaches me ss-pottery.'

'Master?' Ron asked. Harry agreed with the question. What did he mean by "master?"

'Like Master and Apprentice,' Kenshin explained.

'Oh,' Harry said, a little embarrassed. He had thought of something along the lines of slave labor.

'So, pottery?' Ron asked. 'That's... wicked.'

Kenshin laughed. 'It's okay. You can say what you want.'

'Really?' Ron asked. Kenshin nodded.

'Okay. Actually that's kind of girly.'

Kenshin sighed. 'Yeah, but, it's what my master teaches me.'

Harry's imagination supplied him with a mental picture of a short Japanese girly-man with long black hair and a thin face with white make-up on who was wearing a Japanese dress and affectionately carrying a plain pot.

'Why don't you go to a Japanese school of magic?' Ron asked. 'Wouldn't it be closer?'

Harry thought Ron had a point.

'The Japanese schools need their students to start going to school since childhood and I think that maybe I wasn't able to go.'

'Why not?' Ron and Harry asked.

'Well, I lived in a pretty poor orphanage so I think that the schools realized that I wouldn't have the resources to go to school.'

Harry and Ron looked each other. They had both forgotten that Kenshin said he was an orphan.

Harry tentatively asked, 'What happened to your parents?'

'They died of disease.' Kenshin's face was devoid of any emotion.

'Blimey, I'm sorry, mate,' Ron said quietly.

'Don't worry about it,' Kenshin said, his voice marginally more cheerful. 'How's living with your relatives like, Harry.'

Harry could tell that Kenshin was trying to change the subject quickly so he went along with it. 'Oh, they're horrible. They must be the worst muggles you could ever meet. I wish I had a family like yours Ron. Wish I had three wizards for brothers.'

'Five,' Ron said, for some reason, gloomily. 'I'm the sixth Weasley of this generation to go to Hogwarts. You could say that I have some big shoes to fill. Bill- he's already left- was head boy. Charlie -he's left too- was captain of Quidditch. Percy's a prefect now. Fred and George- they're twins- mess around a lot. They get good grades though and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others but they've already done everything first. It doesn't matter what I do. You'd never get anything new either. Everything you have is handed down. Bill's old robes; Charlie's old rat; even Percy's old rat.'

Ron pulled out a fat gray rat from his pocket. It was currently asleep.

'He's Scabbers and useless: hardly ever wakes up. Dad got Percy an owl for being made prefect, but they couldn't aff- I got Scabbers,'

Ron's ears curiously became pink. He started looking out of the window to avoid Kenshin's and Harry's eyes.

Harry didn't think that there was anything to be ashamed about in not being able to afford an owl. He himself had never had any money until the last month.

'I've always had to wear my cousin Dudley's old clothes too. And I've never gotten anything for a birthday present better than a sock.'

'And I've had the same two sets of clothes for the last 3 years. That's why I changed to my robes this early,' Kenshin added.

This seemed to cheer Ron up.

'And, until Hagrid the Keeper of the Keys at Hogwarts told me, I didn't know anything about my parents or about wizards or about Voldemort or-'

Ron gasped.

'What is it?' both Harry and Kenshin asked.

'You- you just said You-Know-Who's name!' Ron said, both shocked and impressed. 'I thought that you, of all people, would-'

Kenshin and Harry glanced at each other, both with a confused look in there eyes.

'I'm not trying to be brave,' Harry said. 'I just didn't know that you shouldn't say his name. Neither does Kenshin. See, we both have loads to learn. Do you think...' Harry said worriedly, 'that we'd be so behind that we'd be at the bottom of the class?'

Kenshin was looking worried for the first time. It looked as if this thought had never occurred to him before. He looked at Ron too.

'You two won't be. There's loads of people who are from Muggle families. They learn quick enough and so will you guys.'

'You think so?' Kenshin asked. Ron nodded. Kenshin started smiling again.

Harry sure hoped Ron was right. He didn't want to be made a fool of himself at Hogwarts.

For at least a half-hour, the three of them talked about nothing. They just watched the scenery out the window pass by. During that time, the owl flying around the ceiling finally became bored and went to his cage. Kenshin introduced him as his owl, Hitmit. Then, after a half-hour, the door was opened.

'Hey, Ron,' said a red-haired boy, one of the twins Ron had talked about. He, like his identical twin who was standing next to him, was a few years older than Ron but not that much taller. Ron was tall and gangly while the twins were shorter and stocky.

'Finally found you,' said the other twin.

'Wow, you've made some friends,' the first twin remarked.

'Where are your manners, Ronnie?' the second twin asked.

'Yeah, aren't you going to introduce us?'

'Kenshin, Harry, they're Fred,' Ron said pointing at the first twin. 'And George,' he pointed at the second twin. 'Now what do you two want?'

'Harry?' Fred asked, ignoring Ron's question.

'Harry Potter?' George asked, also ignoring Ron's question.

'Er- yeah,' Harry said.

'Well we're Fred and George Weasley,' Fred said while Ron muttered 'I just said that.'

'Oh, right, little brother,' said Fred.

'Fred, don't forget why we came here in the first place.'

'You're right, George. Ron, we know how much you like spiders so we wanted to ask if you wanted to come with us to see Lee Jordan's giant tarantula.'

'I'll pass,' Ron mumbled.

'Suit yourself,' Fred said, smirking.

'Come on Ron, how about we bring it back in here?'

'No, I'm fine, George,' Ron said, a little pale.

'Fine,' George said with an unconvincing fake look of disbelief.

The twins turned around and walked back through the compartment door.

'Those gits,' Ron muttered.

'What was that?' Kenshin asked.

'Oh, nothing,' Ron said, his ears turning pink again.

Thankfully for Ron, because it took the attention away from him, a smiling, dimpled woman pushing a cart full of food slid the compartment door open. 'Anything off the cart, dears?'

Kenshin's stomach gave a very audible growl. 'I'm kinda hungry.'

'Me too.'

Ron's ears went pink once again and muttered something at having brought his own lunch of sandwiches.

'Do you have to gloat Ron?' Kenshin asked.

'Yeah, Ron, you get delicious sandwiches while all we get is candy,' Harry continued.

'I think you shouldn't eat those sandwiches,' Kenshin suggested.

'You should take some pity on us. Eat some candy so we don't feel left out,'Harry said.

'Come on, Ron. Please?' Kenshin implored

'It'll be on us,' Harry said.

'Well, if you insist,' Ron said with a shadow of a grin

'Thanks,' Harry said. 'We'll have a lot of everything,' Harry told the woman.

AN: Well Harry's in the story now. Is that good or bad? I also might have one of Kenshin's rivals be in this story but I'm not sure how I'd incorporate them in. Tell me if you have any ideas, please and thank you. And I know the ending to this chapter is kind of bad but I couldn't find a good way to end it.

Once again, please review.


	8. Chapter 8: The Train part 2

_Thoughts_

'Not translated dialogue '

"Translated dialogue

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or Harry Potter.

**Chapter 8**

Kenshin was undeniably happy. When he had first got onto the train, he had been extremely worried that he wouldn't be accepted by his fellow classmates. Contrary to that though, he now had two new friends. One was Ron Weasley, a rather poor European boy with red hair almost as flaming red as Kenshin's. The other friend was none other than the famous Harry Potter.

As Kenshin ate the numerous snacks he and his friends shared, he studied Harry. From what he could observe, he had none of the traits extremely famous people were known for. He was in no way arrogant. In fact, it seemed that he had been brought up largely neglected and mistreated. He seemed extremely uncomfortable by fame or excessive attention, unlike the stereotypical image of a celebrity. He seemed nothing more than an ordinary boy.

'Are these really frogs?' Harry was asking Ron. He was holding up a bag of something labeled "Chocalate Frogs."

'No,' Ron said. "But that's not the main reason why you'd get one. Most people just collect the cards. I'm missing Agrippa so far.'

'What,' Harry asked confused, a sentiment Kenshin shared.

'Oh- erm- Chocolate Frogs have card to collect inside. They're collectible and they have famous witches and wizards on them. I've got a lot- around five hundred- but I'm still missing Agrippa and Ptolemy.'

Harry unwrapped the Frog and picked out the card.

'Hey, I've got Dumbledore!' Harry said.

'Our headmaster?' Kenshin asked looking over Harry's shoulder.

Dumbledore wore half-moon spectacles, had a long rather crooked nose that looked like it had been broken before, and flowing silver hair, beard and mustache. He looked like a benign, kindly wizard.

Harry turned the card over to read what it said.

Kenshin turned back to get some sweets while still listening to the conversation.

'It says here that he's "considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times!"' Harry remarked.

'Well, of course he is,' Ron said. 'You must've at least heard of Dumbledore- can I have a Frog? I might get Agrippa- thanks-'

'What's alchemy? It says here that he worked on it with his partner Nicholas Flamel-'

Just then, someone knocked on the door. A round-faced boy came in.

'Sorry, but have you seen a toad?' he asked tearfully. 'Anywhere at all?'

Kenshin and Harry shook their heads, and Ron said 'Sorry, mate.'

'I keep losing him!' he wailed.

'I'm sure you'll find him sooner or later,' Kenshin said in what he hoped was a kindly voice.

'Yes, well,' the boy said sadly, 'if you see him...'

'We'll give him to you,' Harry said reassuringly.

The boy left miserably, also forgetting to shut the compartment door behind him in his grief.

'If I had to bring a toad to school,' Ron said, 'I'd lose him as fast as I could. But, I've brought Scabbers who's hardly any better than a toad.'

Ron looked disgustingly at the slumbering rat in his lap.

'I tried making him more interesting yesterday by using George's spell to make him yellow. But it didn't work at all. Here, I'll let you guys see...'

Ron rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a second-hand-looking wand.

'It was Charlie's,' Ron reminded them. 'You can even see the Unicorn hair poking out of the end, it's so old-'

Kenshin had of course already tried a few more simple spells in his time at the Leaky Cauldron, but Harry apparently had not. He was interestedly watching, all questions about alchemy forgotten.

Then, when Ron had just raised his wand, a bossy voice said, 'Excuse me, have you seen Neville's toad?'

All three of the boys looked up in surprise. Kenshin was inwardly scolding himself for not noticing that they had visitors approaching. It seemed that if he was already this lacking in Ki sensing, then Hiko was right. If he didn't continue his training at Hogwarts, he would either have to be retrained or be beaten to a pulp. Neither of the options appealed to Kenshin because he: one, remembered the pain he went through the first time he began his training; and two, he didn't find having his body rearranged into something most commonly found in orange juice a very desirable option. Deciding to somehow continue his swords-training- even without a katana on hand-, Kenshin observed their unexpected, but of course, welcome, guests.

The owner of the bossy voice was a girl around the three of them's ages. She had very bushy brown hair and somewhat larger-than-usual front teeth. With her was the round-faced boy from earlier, who was probably named Neville.

'We already told him-' Ron, who had become the self-proclaimed voice of the trio, began, but the girl wasn't listening. She was looking at the wand Ron had raised.

'Are you doing magic?' she asked. 'Well, let's see it then.'

She sat down. Ron looked taken aback from her boldness. Kenshin had thus far deduced that people in the West were crazily brazen.

'All right,' Ron said a little uncertainly. Nonetheless, he cleared his throat and said the incantation:

'_Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow,_

_Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow.' _

Ron waved his wand and pointed it at Scabbers. Nothing happened. Scabbers was still fat, gray, and asleep.

'That's not a very good spell, is it?' the girl told Ron. 'All the spells I've tried have worked for me, thought, mind you, they were all simple ones. I'm muggle-born by the way- no magic in the family at all. It was ever such a surprise when my letter arrived. I was pleased though, of course. I mean, I've heard that it's the very best school of witchcraft that there is. I've learned all the course books by heart- do you think that will be enough? My point is, it should make up for my heritage shouldn't it? Oh, I'm Hermione Granger, who are you three?'

She had said this very fast. Kenshin was surprised her complexion had not turned a bluish tinge, or even a reddish one.

'I'm Ron Weasley,' Ron muttered; he looked unnerved, like Kenshin, that Hermione had learned the course books by heart.

'Kenshin Himura,' Kenshin said, a little bit more politely than Ron's answer.

'Har-' Harry started, but once again, Hermione interrupted.

'Did you die your hair Kenshin?' Hermione asked. 'I don't mean to sound rude or stereotypical, but I thought it was natural for all Asians to have black, or at least dark hair. How is it that your hair is bright red?'

'Yeah, I've been wondering about that too,' Ron muttered again, embarrassed, probably from what he thought was nosiness.

'Me too,' Harry added curiously.

'Ummmm...' Kenshin said. 'I was born with my hair. I don't know why it's so different- probably from one of my parents.'

'Mmmmm...' Hermione hummed skeptically. And then, abruptly looking at Harry, she said, 'Oh I'm sorry, did I interrupt you?'

'That's okay,' Kenshin told her. 'My name's Harry Potter.'

She, despite being muggle-born like Kenshin, immediately recognized his name.

'Are you really?' Hermione asked. 'I've read all about you. You're in a few of the books I got for a bit of background reading. Let's see, you're in _Modern Magical History_ and _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_ and _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century_.'

Harry seemed stunned. 'I am?' he asked dazedly.

'Of course you are; didn't you know?' Hermione asked as if she couldn't believe him. 'Oh, by the way, do any of you know which house you'll be in?' Then, without waiting for an answer, she went on, 'From what I've heard, I think Gryffindor's the best. They even say that that was the house Dumbledore himself was in. I guess Ravenclaw wouldn't be bad either, but I'm hoping for Gryffindor. Anyway, Neville and I had better go look for his toad. And you two should change into your robes. You know, we'll arrive soon."

And then, she and Neville left; though, it was more like he followed her because Neville looked as if he had no idea what was going on.

'Bloody hell, does she even need to breath when she talks?' Ron asked in awe.

'Who knows,' Harry said. Then, 'Hey, Dumbledore's picture's gone!'

'Oro?' Kenshin went over to inspect the picture. And just as Harry said, Dumbledore's picture was gone, leaving only an empty picture square.

'Well, you can't expect him to stay around forever, can you?' Ron said. 'He'll be back though. They always come back.' He went back to eating sweets, muttering about crazy girls.

Kenshin and Harry shared a confused look. Kenshin had been in a wizard's hotel for about a month, but he had never seen any kind of picture move in and out of portraits. But, as he was always either practicing magic in his room or finding a forest to spar with Hiko, he didn't pay attention to pictures. But still...

'Ummm... in our world, you know, the muggle one, pictures don't move at all. They're just stationary,' Harry said.

This got Ron's attention much better than the disappearing picture. 'Seriously?' Ron said. When Harry nodded, Ron turned to Kenshin as if he expected him to refute Harry's claim. Kenshin nodded furiously too.

'Wow...' Ron murmured, amazed.

'Hey...' Kenshin said spotting something out of the corner of his eyes. 'Dumbledore's coming back!'

Harry looked too. 'He is!'

Ron said, 'Well, yeah. They always do come back.'

As Kenshin and Harry pondered about this revolutionary phenomenon, Ron worried about something.

'I hope that girl's not in Gryffindor,' Ron said to Harry and Kenshin.

Harry asked, 'Why not?' while Kenshin asked 'What are houses?'

Ron looked torn between deciding on which question to answer first. 'Er...'

Luckily for him, Harry facilitated this decision; more specifically, he answered Kenshin for Ron.

'Houses are like- er- groups you're in at school,' Harry explained. Seeing what must've been a non-comprehending look upon Kenshin's visage, he added, 'There are four: Gryffindor, Slytherin, -er-, Hufflepuff, and...' He seemed to struggle to remember the last one. 'That one that she was talking about. "Neverclaw"?'

'Ravenclaw,' Ron corrected him. 'When you get to school, you're sorted into one of them. It's sorta like your family at Hogwarts. Your classes are all with them, but the classes are inter-house too. But you don't always have classes with the same houses.'

Kenshin's mind said, _What is he talking about?_, but his mouth said, 'I see.'

'Great,' Ron said. 'It's a rather simple system actually.'

'Yeah,' Harry said. 'So how come you don't want that girl in Gryffindor.'

Ron's face fell. 'Well, it's not that I have anything personal against her, but she reminds me of my brother Percy, and he's something of a bossy know-it-all.'

'So what does that have to do with not wanting her to get into Gryffindor?' Kenshin asked, politely he hoped.

'If she does get chosen for Gryffindor, it lands me in a sort of dilemma. My whole family's been in Gryffindor you see. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. But if I do get in, I'll have to put up with her the whole seven years of school.'

'So there are only seven years?' Harry went on to ask. 'What do you do when you graduate?'

'You can do a lot of things,' Ron explained. 'Like my brothers Charlie and Bill have already left school. Charlie's studying dragons in Romania. Bill's doing something for Gringotts in Africa.'

'I thought only goblins worked at Gringotts?' Kenshin asked.

'Bill's only working as a cursebreaker or something; he doesn't handle all the withdrawals and deposits most of the time. That sort of thing's better left to the goblins. They know how to hold onto gold best. But did you hear what happened at Gringotts over the holidays?'

'Daily Prophet?' Kenshin questioned.

'Oh right, you probably don't get living with Japanese muggles, I mean a Japanese muggle. It's a wizarding newspaper. The biggest one in England I think,' Ron elaborated. 'Anyway, there was a break-in into a high-security vault recently. It's been all over the Prophet.'

'Who did it?' Harry asked.

'That's just it. We don't know,' Ron said mysteriously. 'Noone has ever broken into Gringotts without being caught before. That's why this is causing so much panic. Everyone's afraid that You-Know...'

But that was when Kenshin's attention had left the conversation. This time, he was aware of some Ki coming toward their apartment. This wasn't a difficult feat to accomplish though. These Ki were somewhat un-cleaner than the other visitors they had had. Judging the best he could, Kenshin guessed that the owners were not much older, if they were older at all, than himself because though the Ki were dirty, they still bore the innocence displayed by most children.

Kenshin realized that they were at the door now. Through the window, he could see three boys. The two at the sides seemed that they were miniature thugs. The pale one in the middle had the look of an arrogant, greasy aristocrat. Kenshin's new friends were unaware of the visitors; they were still talking about the break-in. However, when the pale, aristocratic boy slid open the door, both Harry and Ron stopped talking and stared at the three newcomers.

'Is it true? Is Harry Potter really in this compartment?'

* * *

AN: I didn't think that the train scenes would take up so many chapters. It's just that I'm trying to give people who haven't read the Harry Potter books some background info. I'm really sorry to you readers who already are familiar with Harry Potter. Just please bear with me. I promise that the after the next chapter, we'll get to Hogwarts where this story will hopefully not follow the story so rigidly, as many of you have probably noticed. Also, I seriously think my chapter endings are getting worse the more I write them. They weren't any good to begin with either so that makes them crappy now. I hope you guys will keep reading this story, though, even with all its flaws. I'm sorry I haven't been able to reply to any of my reviewers too. I just can't find anything to say other than a lot of Thank You's (which actually means I'm too embarrassed to talk to you guys directly).

Please review. Your feedback is very appreciated. Hopefully, I'll be able to dig up enough courage to reply.


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